You Were Red
by asamixsato
Summary: In which Katara slowly falls in love with Zuko, all to the sound of different Halsey songs. [ modern au / slight ooc / older!gaang / rating subject to change ]


\+ _**prologue +**_

 _[ song : Colors , Pt.2 ]_

* * *

 **SHE KNOWS** that she probably shouldn't like the color red as much as she does.

In fact, before she had even met _him_ , she detested the color red — red was the color of anger, the color of hate, the color of blood (which she, in all her twenty years of life, could not stand to see; an irony she always snickered at, as she was a med student well on her way to becoming a doctor).

She much preferred blue — maybe it was because she'd been born in water (at least, that's what her father told her), or because blue always seemed to be a calming color — it was the shade of the ocean, the sky, her mother's eyes, the house she'd grown up in.

And maybe blue was also the color of sadness (and she knew it was, because after her mother died, she couldn't stand to see any shade of it), but she associated it as the color of serenity and hope.

However, when _he_ had come bursting into her life — like a raging fire set by an arsonist on a building full of unsuspecting people — she changed her mind.

She decided that _red_ wasn't so bad after all.

Red was the color of warmth, of flame, of _everything_ he was, really.

Red was the color of the shirt he'd worn too many times, the one he ended up singeing that one night they all drank themselves to sleep around the bonfire at the beach.

Red was the color of those stupid, ragged sneakers he always wore — those faded, beaten up shoes that he never threw out — the ones her older brother often made fun of.

Red was the color of the softest, silk sheets in his bedroom — the ones they always ended up tangled in or lying on during late nights, the smell of smoke lingering in the room, liquor stains on their lips, his arms wrapped around her shoulders or her waist, pulling her close to him, his hot breath in her hair.

Red was the color of the scar that rested on the left side of his face, the one she'd touched a million times — with her fingertips, with her cheek, with her lips.

Red was the color of his face when he was staring at her with those fiery, sunrise eyes, red was the color of the blood that ran through his veins, and red was the color of the beating, pounding heart in his chest — the heart that raced uncontrollably when her mouth was on his, when her hand was in his, when her body was in his bed.

Red was the color of romance, the romance they shared, the romance they both knew should never have — and shouldn't ever have — existed, but there they are, their fates hopelessly entwined, hopelessly entangled.

It was a horrible decision, really, to become fond of the color red — it is a choice she regrets, a choice that results in pain and hurt and broken hearts and now she is a mess, an abstract _masterpiece,_ dripping in a palette of blue and red _—_ and that's where _he_ comes into the picture. He is her painter, and she is his muse.

And Zuko is a piece of art, too — a painting ripped at every edge, even more abstract than her — even more disorganized and disoriented and will _always_ be that way.

But she doesn't care — no, she doesn't care at all.

The color red will spill all over her hands, her face, and her lips — but she doesn't mind it.

Katara knows that she probably shouldn't like the color red so much.

And in all honesty, she doesn't.

 _She loves it._

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 **hello, and welcome to my first zutara fic! i love zutara (otp, okay. they should have been canon. i cry every time i realize they're not) and i love halsey so much (please listen to her music. please. ashley frangipane is the most amazing musician i've ever come across. her debut album, BADLANDS, came out a few weeks ago. GO LISTEN TO IT! or, even better, look up + listen to the song that this fic goes with!) :) (i know the lyrics are "everything is blue" and in the prologue it's all about red, haha, but i will incorporate blue into the next chapter (which is set to the original 'colors'!)**

 **as you can see, things are already very…somber. i find that angsty zutara fics are the best ones, so i'm going to do my best to make this fic really, really great. i will probably go and edit the chapters when posted, so if you have any comments or criticisms on them, i will edit the previous ones to my liking and integrate your c & c into future chapters. (but be nice and polite, okay)? i really love reviews, so please do so all you want! **

**a few things i've got planned for this fic are stated in my profile (so if you're curious, go check my bio out). be prepared for heart-wrenching angst. i've got a feeling that this story isn't going to have a happily ever after at the end.**

 **updates come unexpectedly (because, until i graduate high school in two years, i won't have much free time unless weekends + vacations), but i will try my hardest to finish this fic!**

 **this chapter is kind of dedicated to MrsPettyfer for being an absolute genius and writing** ** _The Black Games,_** ** _The Rise of One,_** **and** ** _The Phoenix Queen._** **thank you for being so good at writing and characterization and making the best out of that Hunger Games AU and ripping my heart and soul out. thank you for being an inspiration.**

 **anyways! (sorry for this super long author's note…) until the next update! :)**

 **\- izzy (asamixsato)**


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